Israel accused on Friday a senior official in the Hezbollah party of opening a new route to transfer weapons from Iran to Lebanon.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said that Rida Hashem Safieddine was overseeing the route.
Safieddine is the husband of Zeinab, the daughter of slain Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in 2020.
He is also the son of Hashem Safieddine, head of the Hezbollah executive council and considered the most senior official in the party after its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
He also happens to be Nasrallah's cousin.
His uncle is Abdullah Safieddine, Hezbollah's representative in Iran.
Adraee said Safieddine Sr. was probably exploiting his family relations, his high rank, and Lebanese infrastructure to help his son transfer "strategic" weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.
In a series of tweets, he added that Hashem Safieddine was using his position to communicate with Hezbollah supporters and follow up on the party's activities among the Shiite population in Lebanon. He was also communicating with prominent figures in Lebanon and managing media and communications.
He said that since Zeinab lives in Iran, her husband, Rida, who is based in Lebanon, often visits her several times a month.
He uses his trips for military purposes and meets with officials in Iran to coordinate the transfer of weapons on civilian flights from Iran to Damascus International Airport, "putting the lives of passengers in imminent danger, just as the terrorist Hezbollah does when it exploits the Lebanese state and citizens to serve Iran."
Adraee warned that the Israeli army will continue to monitor all of Hezbollah's attempts at threatening the Israeli state's security and that it will do everything it needs to protect itself and its citizens.
